Only 40% of parents surveyed said their primary care physician recommended introducing infants to peanuts by age 11 months, despite 2017 guidelines from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recommending the practice in order to prevent peanut allergy.
According to the study being presented at ACAAI 2021, 58% of parents surveyed reported their physician discussed early peanut introduction; however, only two-in-five parents got the specific direction of introducing infants to peanuts by 11 months of age.
“Our survey showed that while PCPs are discussing the idea of [introducing Infants to peanuts] early with parents of infants, they aren’t recommending that most parents begin peanut by 11 months of age,” said Christopher Warren, PhD, primary author of the study. “We now know that the earlier peanut is introduced, as early as when a child begins solid foods, the better the chance that peanut allergy can be prevented.”
The survey gathered responses from 3062 households in an approximately 3-week period in 2021. The parents/caregivers who responded had children between the ages of 7 months and 3.5 years. Among the infants, 11% had eczema – significant because eczema is one of the indicators parents and caregivers need to be mindful of as a risk factor for food allergies.
In general, parents/caregivers of children with eczema had a greater awareness of the guidelines (18%), and 69% of those parents/caregivers said their child’s PCP had discussed peanut introduction.
“Of those we surveyed, only 44% of the parents/caregivers reported introducing peanut by 11 months of age,” said Ruchi Gupta, MD, ACAAI member and co-author of the study. “And only 13% of all those who responded were aware of the NIAID guidelines. Early peanut introduction should be discussed with parents/caregivers of all infants, including those at higher risk of developing peanut allergy.”
